


Man's Best Friend

by ACatWhoWrites



Category: C-Pop, EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe- Hybrids, Dog/Human Hybrids, Hybrids, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-11-30 17:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11468565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACatWhoWrites/pseuds/ACatWhoWrites
Summary: Taking care of a puppy isn't how Yifan planned to spend the next couple of weeks, but he doesn't mind looking after a friend.





	Man's Best Friend

"Yifan, you don't have plans to travel this month, right?"

It's an innocent question tossed out during one of their lunches in a little restaurant close to their work. Joonmyun mixes his salad; Yifan dumps a few seconds of sugar into his coffee.

"No. I'll be headed to Japan in September, though." He sips his coffee. Still not sweet enough. "Why?"

"I have to go to Europe for a couple weeks. It's too long to leave Jongin by himself, and I don't think he'll do well away from home so long."

"That's unfortunate. I hope it works out— _Wait._ " He sits up, nearly spilling coffee on his white shirt. "Are you implying—?"

"Yifan, please watch Jongin for me. I can't trust him with anyone else." Joonmyun doesn't have a weighted stare like Kyungsoo or expectant tone like Minseok's that leaves no room to argue. Yifan can—and has—argued with Joonmyun plenty of times, losing more often than not. What Joonmyun does have is patience and a ten-year history of friendship with Yifan.

So he waits, expression neutral, until Yifan finally sighs, because he can't think of any good reason that his best friend can't immediately rebuke. Which doesn't mean he doesn't still try.

"Joonmyun, we hardly know each other."

"Jongin is a very good housemate. He cleans up after himself, takes himself for walks, and he honestly just sleeps a lot. Your schedule and routine won't change." Joonmyun neatly piles his utensils and napkin over his empty plate. "I'll talk to him, set some ground rules, and I'll text you the exact dates." He calls a quick _thanks_ over his shoulder, leaving Yifan to mope over his wrap and foot the bill.

It's not that he doesn't like company. Company is fine. Company is great, when he invites it. Admittedly, it's not often, but he's perfectly content by himself. There's a serene quality to having himself and his mind for company. He's had a great many conversations—some not even one-sided—that lead him to solutions he'd never have come up with talking to someone else. His apartment is a bit on the larger size for a single occupant, but he's larger than the average occupant, so he thinks it makes perfect sense. Everything is in its place unless he messes it up, which he then is responsible for cleaning up. He's been on his own and self-reliant since moving to South Korea at the end of high school. Joonmyun was honestly a surprise in college, an underclassman who begrudgingly asked for Yifan's help in replacing some books to a high shelf in the library and promptly kicked him in the shin when Yifan made a disparaging remark. Their relationship and subsequent friendship is built on pain and mutual understanding that they don't need anyone's constant presence or acknowledgment to be happy or feel content.

But then, a year after Yifan graduated, Joonmyun showed up to one of their planned lunches with an unfamiliar boy. He's small, standing at about Joonmyun's shoulders, and quiet. Floppy ears sit among his dark hair, and a tail hangs statically behind him while he tries to hide behind Joonymun and watch Yifan warily.

A puppy.

Yifan graduates, and Joonmyun adopts a puppy.

He thought, then, that maybe Joonmyun wasn't as similar to him as he'd assumed. Mostly because he's a cat person, himself, and pegged Joonmyun to be the same.

After meeting Jongin that first time and the times following, however, Yifan's found that Jongin is also more of a cat person than dog person. He isn't active for very long before passing out just about anywhere for a nap; his clinginess isn't pushy as he grows up, and his whining lasts for maybe fifteen seconds—either because Joonmyun complies quickly or shushes him with a hand on the back of the neck. He's unlike any dog Yifan has met before.

Living with him is very different than meeting him and Joonmyun for lunch, though. He knows this, and he's not sure how he feels about it. In all his years living in Korea, he's never had a roommate, and no one has stayed over. The occasional one-night stands and hookups happened at the other party's house or hotel—even in his office, that one time—but never his own home. The only thing he could consider a pet is the sole surviving goldfish and marimo moss ball he received as a gift from a client. Surprisingly, the marimo is still alive and a beautiful deep green. The only reasons it's still alive are because maintanance is easy, and they're practically indestructible. Puppies are neither low maintainance nor indestructible.

Still, a few days later, his computer pings with an email from Joonmyun. Attached is his itinerary and list of places he's staying, as well as phone numbers for Jongin's doctor, the poison control center, and Jongin's friend's guardian. The body of the email details how to care for Jongin and how they will introduce him to Yifan's apartment. Everything is laid out neatly and in steps; there's no room to argue anything that would allow Yifan to back out.

On the morning he expects Joonmyun to bring Jongin, Yifan hires a service to deep-clean his apartment, so it smells like lemon and vinegar that evening, when Joonmyun rings the doorbell and opens the door that Yifan never locks when he's home.

Jongin trails behind him, nose wrinkling a little at the smell, but his tail wags curiously as he looks around the unfamiliar space. He still stays close to Joonmyun, almost hugging his back, only bowing when his eyes briefly meet Yifan's.

He's bigger than when Yifan last saw him; now he's taller than Joonmyun, still shorter than Yifan, and has a lithe sort of grace more evident in most cats rather than dogs. His ears aren't as floppy, and his tail is more proportional to his body. A very handsome dog.

Joonmyun runs through the introduction and shows Jongin where things are while Yifan silently watches from behind them like a new home buyer following a realtor, adding a comment when Joonmyun prompts him to make it seem like he's involved.

"And remember to _ask_ if you need or want something, okay? Yifan hyung won't know unless you say something, got it?" Jongin nods a little sullenly, although his tail wags a couple times when Joonmyun ruffles the hair between his ears. "I love you, Jongin. Be good." He hugs him tightly. Jongin nuzzles into his neck. "I'll call when I can, okay?"

"...Okay." Jongin's ears and tail fall limp; he obviously doesn't want to let Joonmyun go, and Joonmyun indulges him for a while longer. Yifan meets Joonmyun's eyes and raises an eyebrow. He doesn't remember his friend describing the dog as clingy, but Jongin's holding onto him like he's a jacket.

Joonmyun rubs Jongin's back, and the tail wags a little. "He is still a puppy. He eats and sleeps a lot and gets attached quickly. I think it's charming, but it's also dangerous." His gaze hardens. "He trusts quickly, and it's a complete trust that I'm afraid will ruin him, if that trust is broken."

Yifan picks up on the thinly veiled threat. "I'd never—"

"Good." He runs his fingers through Jongin's hair, combing it neatly behind his ears. "Just be kind and patient with him. Both of you." Jongin follows him to the door, saying goodbye but silently begging him not to leave.

He does, though, closing the door firmly behind him. Jongin's shoulders slope forwards, and Yifan thinks he hears a soft whine.

Without Joonmyun, he doesn't know what to do.

"Well," he says, raising and dropping his hand in a vague, aborted gesture. "Make yourself comfortable. Ask if you have questions about...whatever."

Jongin nods. "Okay." He has a backpack and rolling suitcase. It stresses Yifan out more than it should, because he _did_ agree to letting Jongin stay with him, but seeing him in his living room with his things and without Joonmyun, with intentions of only staying a short while, just makes it more real, so Yifan says to explore as much as he wants and reminds him that his room is across from Yifan's.

The puppy drags his suitcase behind him to his room, walking like an inmate on death row. Yifan wants to say something to cheer him up, but he can't thing of a thing in the world to cheer up the puppy who's being left by himself for the first time, so he says nothing.

They pass the time until evening separately, and when Yifan knocks on the doorframe to ask him what he wants to eat, Jongin's still curled up on the bed, hugging a pillow, with nothing unpacked—much less opened—staring blankly out the window.

"Jongin? Are you hungry?"

"No."

"You should eat something..." Yifan remembers a story Joonmyun told him once, about introducing Jongin to fried chicken. Until that day, the puppy had never had chicken fried, and he ate two buckets of it by himself. _He had such a bad stomachache that I nearly took him to the hospital, but he pulled through and still loves fried chicken. He never gets tired of it._ "Joonmyun said you like fried chicken. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Jongin sighs. He rolls onto his stomach, tail between his splayed legs, imitating a starfish on a rock more than a dog. Yifan supposes it's normal, though. When he was a kid, his mom took him to his grandma's for a week, and it was the first time he'd been away from home and his parents for an extended period of time. While he loved his grandma, he still felt sad and lonely for the first day or two before discovering the freedom that came with his grandma not knowing his curfew or diet at home. He thinks Jongin should come around after moping a while. Joonmyun will still skin him alive if he doesn't make the puppy eat, though, so he pulls the door partly closed and goes to the kitchen to call a chicken restaurant he has a menu for.

The doorbell ringing doesn't bring Jongin from his room, but he appears, silent as a cat, the moment the door closes and the smell of hot oil fills the apartment. Yifan nearly drops the bags when he turns around and steps into the puppy.

"Jongin! You're here." His heart almost makes an appearance outside his chest, too. He raises an arm, brandishing the takeout bag. "Dinner's here. You don't have to eat now, if you don't want to."

Jongin's stomach talks for him, gurgling. There may have been a little bit of drool at the corner of his mouth, too; he wipes his face on his shoulder. "I'm hungry now, thank you."

Yifan takes the buckets of chicken from their bags and sets them on the kitchen peninsula, stuffing the bags with a collection of similar ones beneath the sink. He's not sure if soda is safe for dogs, but he can't think of a good reason why not. He does know alcohol isn't good, so he grabs a can of beer for himself and soda for Jongin as well as a couple of plates. "Here." He passes the soda and plate. "Help yourself and eat wherever. Just try to not make a mess."

"Okay. Thank you." Jongin sits at the counter. Yifan notices his tail wagging as he picks out the drumsticks.

"Are drumsticks your favourite?"

"I'm sorry. Joonmyun lets me take them all..." He makes to put the couple in his hand back in the bucket, but Yifan waves a hand and plucks a golden wing from the bucket nearest him.

"It's fine. Personally, I prefer wings."

They eat quietly, feeling the oppressive weight of silence as they each wait for the other to speak. Yifan is used to awkward silences; he expects it when in business meetings and talking with interns and new hires. Jongin, on the other hand, fidgets and takes small bites of his chicken leg horde, eyeing the hall and guest room door.

The clock ticks noisily, reminding them that time is still passing.

"I'm sorry." He finally breaks. "You don't want me here, but you're still letting me stay and are even feeding me, because you and Joonmyun hyung are friends." As he talks, he seems to get smaller, slouching and pulling his shoulders up. It's a pathetic sight; Yifan feels bad, although it's not his fault, and wants to ease the puppy's anxiety. He doesn't think he can stand it if Jongin just sulks his entire stay.

While his job involves a lot of talking and finagling, personal communication feeling involving feelings is not his forte. "I'm just not used to company at home. _I'm_ sorry for being so unwelcoming. I just really don't know what to do other than let you do your own thing." He sighs, not sure what else to say. Jongin's tail is still lifeless, and his ears are indistinguishable among his hair. "Finish your food. You can leave the plate in the sink, when you're done."

Jongin nods and picks the meat apart with even less gusto than before.

There's still an entire bucket and a half of chicken when Jongin says he's full and leaves.

 

A storm rolls through the city during the night, blowing up the air with thunder and breaking the sky with lightning. Yifan can sleep through just about anything. Storms are familiar and act like lullabies to him. Completely unfamiliar is the repetitive squeak of floorboards across the hall. He figures Jongin is on his way to the bathroom, but the pacing continues for a few minutes, pausing once outside his own door and going down the hall. Once he can't hear it anymore, he rolls over and goes back to sleep.

When he wakes up, he sees the guest room door open on the way to the bathroom; the bedroom is empty, and the bed is messy without pillows.

Yifan finds Jongin passed out on the sofa. He's rolled up in the afghan that usually lies across the back of the sofa, with his legs sticking out and one hanging off the edge of the cushions. The pillow from the bed is on the floor. He's sleeping with his face towards the back of the sofa and head on his arms.

He lets Jongin sleep and notices him shifting out of the corner of his eye as he makes himself coffee. When the toaster pops, the rolled up puppy finally sits up and wriggles enough to reveal his face, creased with lines from sleeping on a blanket.

"Morning," Yifan greets.

"Hi..."

"Help yourself to the kitchen for breakfast. I'll be leaving in a little bit." Jongin nods and gathers the tails of his blanket and the pillow from the floor, retreating back to the guest room.

Yifan finishes his coffee and pours more into a travel mug. It cools to a bearable temperature by the time he's dressed and leaving the apartment. The guest room door is still closed. He doesn't think about the puppy in his apartment while at work, going through meetings and reading documents until his eyesight blurs.

At lunch, his phone buzzes with a text from Joonmyun asking how Jongin is, so Yifan indulges him for a while then sets his phone on silent to eat in relative peace.

During the rest of the day, he loses more and more focus, thinking about what to pick up for dinner. There's leftover chicken, but there's no telling if Jongin eats leftovers or not.

Yifan unlocks the door and pushes it open, toeing off his shoes at the same time. He hears something thumping and looks up to see the top half of Jongin's face watching him sleepily from the sofa. His tail thumps harder when he sees Yifan looking at him. Yifan wonders if the puppy's aware of it.

"Welcome back," Jongin slurs with sleepiness.

"Hey. Everything alright today?" He's awkward with the small talk; he knows he is. If he has a topic and a goal, he's smooth as a snake. Without either, he flounders. Plus, Jongin's just so young. What could they possibly talk about?

Jongin doesn't seem to mind so much, though. "Yeah. I just napped." He rolls onto his side, sits up, and follows Yifan into the kitchen. He's a shadow as Yifan sets takeout bags on the counter and pulls out the contents of his pockets. "How was work?"

"Fine. I talked to Joonmyun for a bit." Jongin's ears lift, and he looks at Yifan's face for the first time. "He wanted to know how you were." As the tail starts to wag, he brandishes his phone. "You want to talk to him?"

"Yes!"

Yifan unlocks his phone, pulls up his contacts, and hands it to the puppy, who scuttles down the hall to the guest room, tail wagging ecstatically.

Not knowing how long they'd talk, Yifan grabs a bowl and piles takeout into it. He drops onto the sofa and pulls his tie off one-handed. It drapes over the sofa back with his jacket. Kicking his feet up onto the low table, he makes himself comfortable but is only just finishing his second bowl of food when Jongin returns.

"Here," he says softly, holding out Yifan's phone. "Thank you."

Joonmyun amusedly told Yifan once that Jongin actually isn't _clingy_ , exactly, but he likes being touched. Contact comfort. Just another way Jongin resembles a cat more than a puppy. Jongin quietly stands in the hall behind the sofa, shifting and worrying his tail. Yifan hears the soft squeaks of the floorboards and turns his head just enough to look at him.

"Are you okay? Need something? Food's on the counter."

"I'm not hungry..." Jongin sighs, edging around the sofa.

"You miss Joonmyun?"

The dog sighs heavily at that, finally sitting on the end of the sofa. "He said he won't be back for twelve days. He's never been gone that long."

"Our jobs take us away from home a lot. He told me he would've taken you along, if it was a shorter trip." Jongin's tail wags against the sofa cushions, a soft _thmp thmp_ that releases some translucent dust motes into the air. His shoulders hunch some, and Yifan wonders. "Do you want me to...?" He raises his hand, and Jongin's under it in a second, pushing into him and relaxing when Yifan finds his ear among the thick, soft hair. His hands and Joonmyun's are opposites; Yifan's fingers are long like a musicians and rough whereas Joonmyun has small, soft hands. Jongin evidently doesn't mind, although Yifan thinks he hears a sniffly sigh. "He'll be back, Jongin," he assures. "Just be patient."

Jongin pushes into his hand and leans forward until it goes to his neck. Yifan complies and scratches his nape, wrapping his fingers around the base to knead the flesh as a sort of one-handed massage that Jongin enjoys so much he's like a lump of clay, willing to be worked over into a new shape.

Slowly, centimetres at a time, Jongin leans into Yifan and ends up draped across his lap. It's weird but also pleasant. There's no sort of expectation aside from scratching the puppy's ears—when Yifan's hand starts to cramp, Jongin just grabs for his other hand. It strikes Yifan as funny, so he laughs.

The ear Yifan's not petting twitches, pulling back to face the alien sound. Jongin says something, muffled against his arm. "You say something?"

Jongin sits up, ears alert and head cocked. He looks genuinely curious. "I didn't think you could laugh."

Yifan laughs again and flips Jongin's ear. "Go eat before it gets cold." He turns on the TV while Jongin gets his dinner, and they watch a rerun of a drama until Jongin is yawning and falling asleep. He's almost dead weight when Yifan finally gets him on his feet, dragging his feet and moving slower and slower as he's lead down the hall.

He's with it long enough to pull off his jeans but only kicks them off one foot before falling into bed. Yifan laughs, and it plays in his dreams.

 

 

After work, Yifan goes grocery shopping. Takeout can only be acceptable for so long, and as well off as he is, it also gets expensive.

He's not much of a cook, and neither is Jongin, but they're both very capable of reading recipes and following directions. Jongin takes charge after Yifan knocks ingredients into the sink a third time, pointing to the counter stools and declaring, _Sit._

After a couple of days, Yifan suggests going out for a walk and barely finishes speaking before Jongin's jamming his feet into his shoes and dancing around Yifan. He hustles ahead while they're in the hall and on the sidewalk, doubling back to circle around Yifan, and then goes ahead again.

Jongin follows his nose to a food truck. Yifan discovers he's weak to puppy dog eyes. They eat in a nearby park, and Yifan notices Jongin watching the playground of children watching him and nudges him. "Go for it. Be nice."

Turns out Jongin's a natural with children, tolerating touches and tugs on his tail and ears and eliciting shrieks of laughter when he runs and rolls with the kids.

He returns to Yifan's side grass-stained and happy and is only distracted from retelling his adventure when they pass a basketball court. Yifan promises they can play later, but it's late, and he has work in the morning. He has the best night of sleep and wakes up before his alarm but isn't tired.

He leaves his spare apartment key on the counter with a note that Jongin should feel free to come and go, locking the door behind him, and not going farther than the park.

They develop a sort of routine, spending the evening together. Yifan learns a lot about Jongin's habits and preferences—and even job; Jongin is a children's therapy dog, which surprises Yifan but makes perfect sense—and reveals some things about himself that he's not sure even Joonmyun knows, but it feels natural to talk with an innocent, unassuming person like Jongin who doesn't judge. There are no expectations and is probably more silence or laughter than actual speech, especially when Yifan suggests playing a video game and wins five consecutive times before Jongin finally gets the hang of the controls and timing of a sports game and starts winning. He positively crows, leaping off the couch and whacking Yifan with his frantically wagging tail.

At the end of the day, Jongin calls Joonmyun and updates him on his day. Yifan wakes up to texts or gets a phone call at lunch either praising him—which sounded condescending at first but genuine later—or questioning why his precious puppy was eating so much takeout and junk food and staying up late and being generally unhealthy. Something Yifan's never prepared for is dealing with an overprotective parent, but he soothes his friend as much as he can with "Jongin's happy. Isn't that what's important?" to which Joonmyun inevitably rebukes with "Yes, but..." Yifan just lets him talk, holding the phone away from his ear and eating his lunch.

It's true, though. Jongin is a rather simple person, and even Yifan can tell he's happy. Happier than the day Joonmyun dropped him off, definitely, but he only shows anxiety during storms—Joonmyun tells Yifan that he's aways been like that—and once when Yifan was at work.

It's quiet, when Yifan is gone. It's quiet when he's home, too; he doesn't blare music or movies, either due to personal preference or consideration for his neighbours. Jongin doesn't mind. He has more sensitive ears and prefers the quiet to loud noises. Jongin lies on the sofa and sighs. It's _too_ quiet.

A clock ticks on the wall over the door. With no competitors, it seems to echo within the apartment. Jongin watches the skinny second hand tick across the images standing in for hour slots. Sometimes, he thinks the hand jumps backwards rather than forwards.

Five more hours until Yifan returns.

He sighs again and rolls onto his back, shifting again to get off of his tail.

The TV remote is within reach, but there's nothing he feels like watching, and Yifan only has sports video games, which aren't at all interesting to Jongin unless he plays against Yifan.

Outside, it's bright and breezy. He can smell another summer storm rolling in. The leaves of the plants Yifan has on his balcony move freely. There's no furniture, so Jongin takes a blanket from the guest room.

He lays the blanket on the ground after brushing aside some debris. His balled up shirt serves as a pillow, and he falls asleep to the ambient city noise and pigeon coos. When he dreams, it's of Joonmyun. He decides to stay in Europe and finds another dog, cuter and more obedient than Jongin.

Three hours later, Yifan gets home early to be greeted with silence. Usually, Jongin would look out of his room or wake up from his nap on the couch enough to say _hi_ , so he's a little unsettled when there's nothing. That little voice of anxiety that's always in the back of his mind is saying, _You're dead. Jongin's gone Joonmyun will murder you. No one will find your corpse._

Anxiety relaxes a little when Yifan sees a body on the balcony. It quiets entirely when Jongin's tail twitches in his sleep.

The door slides open with a rattle. Yifan crouches beside him and shakes his shoulders. "Wake up, kid. Jongin."

Jongin shifts and slowly stretches. "You're back?"

"Yeah. I skipped out early."

"Welcome back." He rubs his face and sniffles; his hand glistens in the light.

"You hungry? I don't feel like cooking; we can order takeout."

"Chicken..." Jongin answers with a stretch and a whine.

Yifan nods. It figures. "Chicken, sure." He rubs Jongin's back and pats his shoulder. "Come on. You'll burn, if you lay out here much longer."

Jongin shakes out his shirt and pulls it on, wrapping the blanket up in his arms to bring inside. Yifan puts in an order with his usual chicken place and parks himself on the sofa to finish the bit of work he brought home. He feels the puppy behind him; he ends up across the sofa and Yifan's lap.

"Are you done, yet?"

"I've barely started, Jongin," Yifan replies, holding his tablet with one hand to pet Jongin's hair with the other. "I said you can go out. Or go read a book or something."

"No..."

"Then quiet, please. I'll finish sooner without being distracted."

Jongin whines softly at the scolding but doesn't complain anymore. He stares at Yifan from his extreme angle and takes his free hand, lacing their fingers together and folding Yifan's fingers one by one. Yifan is distracted and largely ignores the curious exploration until he feels something wet.

" _Jongin!_ Ew!" He wipes the saliva off of his hand on Jongin's shirt. "No licking!"

"I'm _bored_ , and my mouth feels...empty." He tries grabbing Yifan's hand again and is bopped on the nose. He gets a nip in before being bopped a second time.

"Go chew on a pen or something. Chicken will be here soon."

"Joonmyun hyung yells at me when I do. Says I break too many of them like that." He looks at his own fingers and picks at the skin around his nails. Yifan sees him start gnawing on his fingernails and gently takes his hands, trapping them and holding them to his chest.

"Relax, Jongin. Give me fifteen minutes." Jongin tilts his head back to watch the clock; Yifan smiles.

 

 

Ultimately, Jongin's still a puppy, overeager to please and more willing to chase whatever pleasure than resist it. 

Over the weekend, Yifan doesn't care much about shaving. He has no one to impress. A shower in the morning, comfy sweats or shorts, and he is ready to veg out. Jongin gets him outside for a while, tires them both out, power naps when they return to the apartment, and finds Yifan stretched out on the sofa. He's much too tall to fit, but it's rather comfy with the sofa arms beneath his knees and head.

Jongin crouches beside him, quiet. He just watches Yifan scroll through his phone. When the weight of his stare gets too heavy, Yifan asks, "You want something?"

"No. You have a moustache."

"Yes, I do."

"And a beard."

"Yes, I do."

"Thank you." Jongin crosses his arms beside Yifan's elbow and rests his chin on top. "You let me stay because hyung's your friend, even though you didn't like me."

Yifan sets his phone on his chest. "Joonymun asked me a favour, but I didn't _not_ like you, Jongin. I'm not much about socialising. Outside of work, I enjoy being by myself." He taps Jongin's forehead with his knuckles. "I like your company, now, too." The puppy's tail wags. "You're a good boy." His tail wags harder, and he hides his pink cheeks in his hands.

Turns out Jongin is the kissy sort of puppy when really happy.

Yifan doesn't mind, smiling when Jongin starts climbing on top of him. He holds the puppy's waist and feels the wiggles as Jongin's tail wags excitedly. No matter how he turns his head, Jongin chases him, kissing his cheeks, lips, nose, chin, and neck. It's cute, but that voice in the back of his head keeps chanting, _Joonmyun is going to kill you._

It's not his fault. They're finally bonding; Yifan doesn't feel nearly so awkward, anymore. Jongin's a good dog and amazing company. He's not as rambunctious as Chanyeol's dog, Baekhyun, who is noisy even in his sleep, and he's not wholly aloof as Minseok the cat. He's the perfect balance. Yifan really does like his company and recognises his life before hosting the puppy as lonely at home.

Jongin finally relaxes his kisses to affectionate nuzzles and lays over Yifan like a blanket. He's asleep in minutes.

 

 

There are only a few more days until Joonmyun returns. Jongin eyes the calendar on the fridge more often as days are crossed off with black marker. His suitcase and backpack are repacked the night before Joonmyun's return flight lands. They sit beside the door.

Yifan leaves a note in the morning that he's going to buy breakfast but actually meets Joonmyun at the airport. He thinks their big reunion should be something memorable, a nice surprise.

Jongin wakes up anxious and finds Yifan's note. He showers, stuffs his pajamas into his backpack, and sulks until he hears footsteps and a key in the lock and moves before the door starts to open. He runs into Yifan's surprised arms, surging up on his toes to kiss him. "Welcome back!"

"Jongin— Wait, just— Hold. _Down!_ " He pushes Jongin as much as he can. "Jongin, look who's here!"

Joonmyun manages to hide his shock and amusement and wiggles his fingers in a wave. "Hey, boy. Remember me? Your legal guardian full of unconditional love and patience?"

"Joonmyun hyung!" Jongin launches himself into waiting arms; Joonmyun has enough experience with the clinging to walk them inside so Yifan can close the door.

"Made a new friend, huh? Have fun?"

"Yes!" Jongin beams. "Yifan hyung's really nice."

"You hear that Yifan? You're _really nice_. Should I let your boss know that you can play well with others?" Yifan flips him off when Jongin isn't looking. Joonmyun chuckles and gently pulls out of the puppy's embrace. "Are you ready to go home?"

Jongin's tail lowers. "Can I come back?" He looks at Yifan with wet, pleading eyes. Puppy dog eyes he's weak for.

"My door's always open to you, Jongin." He sighs when Jongin reattaches himself to his side, but Joonmyun can tell it's a fond sort of sigh.

"Jongin's hard to resist, isn't he?" Joonmyun ruffles Jongin's damp hair and pulls up the handle of the suitcase. "He can melt the coldest hearts."

"Obviously. You're living proof."

Joonmyun looks at Yifan's hand on Jongin's waist. "I was thinking of you."

**Author's Note:**

> I think one of the greatest things is when a previously anxious or standoffish animal becomes someone's friend. Working with dogs almost every day, I've befriended a lot of dogs and met a lot of personalities; my favourites are the really lovey dogs who had a quiet image. Jongin here is based off of a couple dogs I know. Now that I know them, they're so flirty? I'll sit, and they'll be on my lap and trying to smother me in kisses. Like, slow down. Seriously. Buy me dinner, first. All they want is to give love and be loved, which people could learn from.


End file.
